âGood person, the hell!â
Seiji almost retorted out loud.
âIf you want me to do something for you, just that information alone wonât suffice,â Seiji finally spoke up. âI want to know what exactly happened. Why did things outside become like that?â
âYouâre not helping me here, youâre helping your sisterââ
âIâm not arrogant enough to think that Yui needs my help!â Seiji stated decisively. âPerhaps she really is in a bad situation in the Realm of Cherry Blossoms like you say, but I highly doubt that she wonât be able to handle things or that she canât even escape! Stop pretending to be an idiot!â
That was Qilin Girl Yui Haruta, his older sister who was who knew how many times stronger than he was! There was no way she would easily be endangered. And even if she was in the middle of a crisis, she would surely be able to pull through.
If Seiji confirmed that Yui truly did need help, he would unhesitatingly help her. But, since things werenât certain right now, he would first think about whether or not his older sister truly needed his assistance.
He felt that it was unlikely, as Yui was truly strong, unmistakably strong.
Going to help her without even knowing what was going on would not only be foolish, it would also be arrogant of him.
Still, the foundational reason why he wasnât going immediately was because the person who said she was in danger was Itsuki Kamitani, a high-ranked member of the Messengers, someone who was completely untrustworthy.
Kamitani fell silent for a moment before he started chuckling.
âYou actually saw through me so easily. I thought that you would at least be slightly shaken, my bro Haruta. Itâs as you think. I doubt that youâll have to worry about her. Sheâs the Qilin Girl, after all. She wonât die that easily. Although itâs not absolutely necessary for me to have you go find Voidfire-kun, just think of this as a big gift from me to you. As you wanted, Iâll tell you some more information.â
Kamitani paused for a moment before going on.
âAs for why things out there became like this, that was caused by us Messengers. However, this wasnât what we originally intended. Our plan failed, in combination with unexpected outside factors. Simply speaking, we made a mess of things.
âOur original objective was to stop Soul Society from sacrificing innocent citizens in order to summon the Realm of Cherry Blossoms. We also considered the possible consequences of our failure. But as you can see now, things are far worse than anyone expected.
âHeeheehee, an evil organization acted for the sake of justice, but made the situation far worse in the end. How truly interesting, hahahaâŠâ
Kamitani started laughing out loud. Seiji could tell from his tone that he was truly amused from the bottom of his heart.
Naturally, Seiji didnât laugh at any of this. Instead, he furrowed his eyebrows.
Although this bastard Kamitani was obviously quite twisted, it didnât seem like he was lying⊠or at least, this didnât seem like a complete lie.
âWhy would the Messengers want to stop Soul Society from sacrificing innocent citizens?â Seiji inquired.
âLike I said, for the noble cause of justice!â Kamitani smiled while extending his palms. âThe person who was in charge of our failed plan is that Voidfire-kun whom I want you to contact. He really is a good person, a good person who believes in justice.â
âJusticeâŠâ Something flashed in Seijiâs eyes.
At this moment, he really did somewhat want to meet this person who was codenamed Voidfire.
âBut regrettably, the result of his pursuit of justice was that heâs now endangered several million people! This is thousands of times more of a potential sacrifice compared to what Soul Society wanted to do. This is truly beautiful evil without comparison, completely befitting of our organizationâs image, heeheeheeâŠâ Kamitani kept chuckling unstoppably.
His voice didnât contain a single trace of sarcasm. He was simply delighted because he felt that all of this was interesting.
But from a certain standpoint, this made him all the more frightening.
An action taken for the sake of justice that ended up causing a far worse result than expected. Was that evil?
If there had to be an answer, Seiji felt that from the viewpoint of the victims, this would be âevilâ.
No matter what noble purposes or objectives the perpetrator had, that wouldnât lessen the pain of the victims one bit.
Right now, the only part worth celebrating was that the situation wasnât one of absolute despair quite yet. The victims were still alive⊠well, most of them were still alive. If this incident was resolved in time, they could all be saved!
âI highly doubt that you Messengers would act for the sake of justice, or at least not purely for the sake of justice. There must have been benefits involved that you could obtain.â Seiji looked directly at Kamitani. âAs for what exactly you guys did⊠I guess that youâre going to make me ask that Voidfire.â
âYou knew exactly what I would say. You truly understand me, my bro Haruta. As expected of my best friend!â
âThe hell with being your best friend!!â Seiji finally couldnât resist retorting anymore. âThe very fact that I know what youâre going to say next disgusts me⊠itâs just like knowing what type of stench that rotten meat will let off.â
âThatâs so terrible of you to say! Iâm not rotten meat, Iâm human!!â Kamitani countered.
âBut you didnât deny the part about you being rottenâŠâ
âOh, right. I should have said that I was a noble human!â
âIf youâre the noble type, then everyone else in the world is a saint.â
âThank you for the praise~â
âI wasnât praising you!â Seiji used a classical retort.
He then forced himself to calm down. After he calmed down, he asked another question. âWhat needs to be done in order to resolve this incident and return the outside world to normal?â
âItâs quite simple. All you have to do is kill the Catastrophe Goddess whoâs caused all this,â Kamitani replied instantly.
âCatastrophe GoddessâŠâ
âSheâs the strongest and most vicious monster who rules over the Realm of Cherry Blossoms. According to Soul Societyâs threat level standards, her danger level surpasses even that of âDemon Kingsâ. Sheâs in her own individual âCatastrophe Goddessâ level, so weâre calling her the âSakura Catastrophe Goddessâ.â
Sakura Catastrophe Goddess⊠so that was Soul Society and the Messengersâ name for the Evil White Sakura Goddess. Seiji nodded in understanding.
âA dangerous Catastrophe Goddess threat thatâs far stronger than a Demon King level threat. Who has the ability to kill such an existence?â
âFrom what I know, not a single person is capable of taking her on as an individual.â
ââŠIs there some type of plan?â Since it would be necessary to cooperate, then a plan would be necessary as well.
âLet me enact the god-slaying plan right now. Please help me in saving the world together! Oh, my best friend!â Kamitani theatrically opened up his arms for a mock embrace.
Seiji responded with an icy glare.
This Kamitani bastard was absolutely untrustworthy. But, with the real worldâs situation being so bad right now, no matter who a person was or what faction they belonged to, it would be absolutely necessary to stand united against this common threat, unless it was possible to run away.
âWith the situation being so bad, why arenât you making your escape? For someone like you, you probably donât care no matter what happens to this city. Even if millions or even tens of millions of people die, youâll probably think that everything is interesting.â
âBecause Iâm unable to escape,â Kamitani replied.
Unable to escape? That indeed sounded like a good reason.
Kamitani didnât even try to deny the other parts of Seijiâs statement.
That was because Seiji was completely correct. Even if the city was destroyed or countless people died, it would be truly interesting to him.
ââŠIs it that you donât have the ability to escape? Or, is it that you can escape, but people will hunt you down afterwards?â Seiji asked this next question while narrowing his eyes.
Kamitani fell silent for another moment.
âWhy do you ask this?â
âYou know why I ask,â Seiji spoke in a cold tone.
Kamitani chuckled upon hearing this.
âAs expected of my best friend, my bro Haruta. Youâve seen through me yet again. Indeed, I can escape from here, but itâs likely that Iâll be hunted down until the day I die. Although being hunted will also be quite interesting, I donât want to live such a life just yet. So, Iâll just have to stay behind here and do my own things.â
Seiji looked directly at Kamitani while slowly releasing killing intent as he spoke his next words.
âYou⊠just what exactly have you done?â